The global battery market is about $50 billion US, of which roughly $5.5 billion is allocated to rechargeable (secondary) batteries. The growth is estimated at 6% annually through 2006. China, India, Brazil, the Czech Republic and South Korea will record...
How much has the battery improved during the last 150 years? Compared to other advancements, the progress has only been moderate. A battery holds relatively little power, is bulky, heavy, and has a short life span. Battery power is also...
NOTE: This article has been archived. Please read our new "Cost of Power" for an updated version. Electrical energy from non-rechargeable (primary) batteries is expensive in relative terms and its use is limited to low power applications such as watches...
Batteries use diverse elements, which are harvested from the earth’s crust. It is thought provoking that most of these materials are also shared by plants and living beings. We are made from stardust and anything that grows and moves comes...
Batteries have a mind of their own. They're stubborn and unpredictable behavior has left many battery users in awkward situations. And yet, the battery is our steady travel companion that allows us to carry out our activities disconnected from home...
During the last 20 years, three basic battery rapid test methods have emerged: DC load, AC conductance and multi-frequency electro-chemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). All methods are resistance based, a characteristic that reveals the battery's ability to deliver load current. Internal...
When studying the characteristics relating to battery state-of-health (SoH) and state-of-charge (SoC), some interesting and disturbing effects can be observed - the properties are cumbersome and not linear. Worst of all, the parameters are unique for every battery type. This...
Keeping track of batteries can be difficult, especially when encountering continuously changing battery types and observing periodic maintenance needs. To assist, several manufacturers of battery analyzers are offering software to enable PC interface. While a PC is helpful for battery...
Industrial applications have unique power needs and the choice of battery is important. While consumer products demand high energy density to obtain slim and elegant designs, industry focuses on durability and reliability. Industrial batteries are commonly bulkier than those used...
Laptops are known to be tough hosts on their batteries. The host demands a stream of uninterrupted power but offers a poor working environment in return. As a result, the battery cannot provide the promised runtime and the service cuts...
Research has brought about a variety of battery chemistries, each offering distinct advantages but none providing a fully satisfactory solution. With today's variety of battery types, better choices can be made to suit specific user applications. This paper talks about...
With the move from analog to digital, new demands are placed on the battery. Unlike analog portable devices that draw a steady current, the digital equipment loads the battery with short, heavy current spikes. One of the urgent requirements of...
The fuel cell enjoyed the height of popularity in the1990s when scientists and stock promoters envisioned a world run on clean and inexhaustible resource – hydrogen. They predicted cars running on fuel cells and households generating electricity from back-yard fuel...
The reusable alkaline was introduced in 1992 as an alternative to disposable batteries. The battery was promoted as a low-cost power source for consumer goods. Attempts were made to open markets for wireless communications, medical and defense. But the big...
In 1995, Li-polymer surprised the battery world with a radical new design, the pouch cell. Rather than using a metallic cylinder and glass-to-metal electrical feed-through for insulation, conductive foil tabs welded to the electrode and sealed to the pouch carry...
Learn about the lithium-ion battery; its advantages, such as high energy density and low maintenance, and its limitations, such as transportation restrictions.
Understand Lithium-ion, a safe battery provided cell manufacturers & battery packers follow safety measures in keeping voltage and currents to secure levels.
Learn about modern Lead battery systems such as; the Firefly Energy battery, the Altraverda, the Axion Power e3 Supercell, CSIRO Ultrabattery and the EEStor.
Electrolyte serves as catalyst to make a battery conductive by promoting the movement of ions from the cathode to the anode on charge and in reverse on discharge. Ions are electrically charged atoms that have lost or gained electrons. The...
The building blocks of a battery are the cathode and anode, and these two electrodes are isolated by a separator. The separator is moistened with electrolyte and forms a catalyst that promotes the movement of ions from cathode to anode...
Examine the requirement for agency approval when building a Li-ion pack. Manufacturers do not supply lithium-ion cells to uncertified battery assemblers.
Watch for limitations when using a battery at adverse temperatures and how to overcome the effects. Explore the limitations when operating a battery at adverse temperatures and learn how to minimize the effects.
The interest in batteries is growing, but stored energy must be respected. Children and adults alike are often unaware of the potential safety hazards when experimenting with batteries by heating cells, crushing them or applying an electrical short. Some batteries...
Battery packs using Li-ion require a mandatory protection circuit to assure safety under (almost) all circumstances. Governed by IEC 62133, the safety of Li-ion cell or packs begins by including some or all of the following safeguards. Built-in PTC (positive...
Learn what causes Li-ion to fail and what to do in case of fire. Battery makers are obligated to meet safety requirements, but less reputable firms may cheat.
Learn how to make batteries safe with built-in protection circuits. Batteries can release high power, and most packs include protection against malfunction.
Learn about primary batteries. They fill an important niche market in applications such as wristwatches, remote controls, electric keys and children’s toys.
Most future batteries function wonderfully in a theoretical world, but many fail to meet the eight basic requirement of the so-called Octagon Battery. Short cycle life and limited load currents often prevent commercialization of the breakthroughs. While futuristic batteries may...
Our lexicons list weird and wonderful batteries, but as with animal species, not all become house pets. A battery has stringent requirements. No less than eight requirements must be met to call a battery a battery. (See BU-104c: The Octagon...
Nickel-based batteries dwell between lead acid and Li-ion. They are safe, economical and long-living but are increasingly being assigned to niche markets. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of present, past and future nickel-based batteries. Chemistry Nickel-cadmium Nickel-metal-hydride Nickel-iron Nickel-zinc Nickel-hydrogen...
The lead acid battery maintains a strong foothold as being rugged and reliable at a cost that is lower than most other chemistries. The global market of lead acid is still growing but other systems are making inroads. Lead acid...
Learn about the up-and-coming batteries such as Li-air and Li-metal. Some systems show good potential, but many are years away from becoming commercially viable.
Explore how batteries can be charged with solar power or a wind turbine. This is an exciting way to step outside our four walls and use renewable energy. Learn about charging your batteries from renewable resources and what it costs.
Understand the differences in battery chemistries and ratings and how they apply. We distinguish batteries by chemistry, voltage, size, capacity, specific power and more.
Review battery charge and discharge rates and read about different discharge signatures and explores how certain patterns can affect battery life. Learn how certain discharge loads will shorten battery life.
Explore why some battery packs pose odd voltages and how this affects the user. The voltage varies depending on the metals and acid solution (electrolyte) used.
Lower the power requirements of your portable device by learning a few simple rules. Discover simple tricks to lower power consumption and extend runtime
Discover how the battery surpasses or lacks behind other power sources on: Energy storage, capacity, responsiveness, power bandwidth, environment and more.
Follow the advancements to replace the battery with a fuel cell. It could eventually succeed to extend the range of portable power and reduce pollution.
Learn how portable devices can be charged without wire by adding a transmitting and receiving coil to transfer magnetic power from the base to the receiver. Find out about energy loss and higher temperature when charging on a pad.
Explore the development of the fuel cell and study the different systems. Fuel cell technology is twice as efficient as combustion in turning carbon fuel to energy.
Know the limitations when charging a battery with a USB charger. The USB port has become one of the most widespread and convenient interfaces for electronic devices. Become familiar with the limitations when charging a battery with a USB charger.
Compare the pros and cons of the cylindrical cell, button cell, prismatic cell and the pouch cell which surprised the battery world with a radical new design.
Learn how extreme cold and high heat reduce charge acceptance, and the battery must be brought into moderate temperature conditions before charging. Learn how to extend battery life by moderating ambient temperatures.
Learn about battery types and how different battery systems are used worldwide, explore future trends and discover which chemistries are most promising.
Review simple guidelines for charging Lithium-based batteries and prolong battery life such as; a portable device should be turned off while charging and more. Find out how to prolong battery life by using correct charge methods.
Become familiar with the many different types of lithium-ion batteries: Lithium Cobalt Oxide, Lithium Manganese Oxide, Lithium Iron Phosphate and more.
Learn about lithium-ion batteries and their different types. They have high energy density, relatively low self-discharge but they also have limitations.
Discover advancements made in lead acid batteries and how they benefit industry. Batteries covered are: Firefly Energy, Altraverda Bipolar, Axion Power and more.
Invented by the French physician Gaston Planté in 1859, lead acid was the first rechargeable battery for commercial use. Early models were flooded, and during the mid-1970s the sealed or maintenance-free versions emerged in which the liquid electrolyte is transformed...
Learn about the differences within the lead acid battery family; the sealed lead acid (SLA), also known as gel cell, and the valve-regulated lead acid (VRLA).
Consumer market put aside, the largest users of primary (non-rechargeable) batteries are the military, specialty emergency services and forest fire fighters. High energy density, long storage and operational readiness are among their strong attributes. No charging and priming is required...
BU-003: Dedicatoria (Español) The information in this book is provided for the benefit of all battery users. Batteries have become our steady travel companion. They help us reach a friend, allow us to work outside the confines of four walls...
BU-002: Introducción (Español) The word “battery” comes from the Old French word baterie, meaning “action of beating,” relating to a group of cannons in battle. In the endeavor to find an energy storage device, scientists in the 1700s adopted the...
Read an essay on the sharing of battery knowledge and share your opinions. This interface gives me an advantage in learning how the battery behaves in the field.
Review simple guidelines on charging Nickel-based batteries such as; Do not charge at high or freezing temperatures, do not use chargers that cook batteries and more. Know how to apply the correct charge to moderate heat and prevent overcharge.
Find information about charging Nickel-cadmium batteries, full-charge detection by temperature & voltage signature and charging flooded Nickel-cadmium batteries. Learn how to maximize charge, minimize heat and reduce memory.
Learn how stationary batteries can provide power during power outage. A battery bank can also provide supplementarypowerduring high-traffic periods. Find out how to combine the battery and power supply to meet peak requirements.
Review various Lead Acid charging methods and examine why some systems work better than others. Find also simple guidelines for charging Lead Acid batteries. Learn how to optimize charging conditions to extend service life.
Learn what is the C-rate; created by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, today the battery industry uses C-rate to scale the charge and discharge current of a battery.
This article provides an honest opinion of today's battery technologies and what new inventions might bring. Rechargeable batteries perform well for portable applications but the electrochemical energy storage system may not work equally well for large-scale propulsion.
Many perceive a battery as being an energy storage device that is similar to a fuel tank dispensing liquid fuel. This is a fallacy because measuring stored energy from an electrochemical device is far more complex. The article describes pros and cons of the battery fuel gauge and introduces new developments in battery management systems.
The Spectro CA-12 is the first hand-held battery tester that reads reserve capacity (RC), CCA, and state-of-charge (SoC) in a single, non-invasive 15-seconds test.
After fewer than 100,000 flight hours, two main batteries in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner failed. This contradicts Boeing’s estimate as part of certification that a smoke event involving the new Li-ion battery should only occur once in 10 million flight hours.
Batteries are critical components in medical devices. As more instruments are computerized and become mobile, systems performance and reliability depends heavily on the battery. Improvements in battery reliability are necessary, and at a recent workshop with Cadex Electronics, the US...
No other part in a vehicle is as failure-prone as the starter battery. According to ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club), battery problems have risen four times between 1996 and 2010. ADAC, Europe’s largest automotive club, says further that each third breakdown...
Many warehouse and 3PL IT Managers and Operations Managers are faced with the daunting task of keeping battery replacement costs down and system reliability high.
Battery users want state-of-charge (SoC) and remaining runtime clearly displayed on their devices. Smartphones apps do this in an amazing way, but one questions the resource on which the information is based on. While data can easily be digitized for...
Tesla Motors expects to consume two billion Li-ion cells by 2017. Both the Tesla Model S and Model X electric vehicles (EV) get their electrical energy from the 18650 cell, a format that also powers laptops and medical devices. The...
Taking performance snapshots in weeks instead of yearsA speaker at the BATTERIES 2013 conference in Nice, France, flashed charts on the screen that showed continuously rising energy densities. When the audience asked the presenter: “Do you believe in these predictions?”...
Welcome to the Leaning Tools section of BatteryUniversity.com. Here you find practical experience and gossip from many conferences and academic institutions summarized in entertaining and easy-to-read presentations. Guys don’t want to read too much, so enjoy the engaging graphics as...
Welcome to the Leaning Tools section of BatteryUniversity.com. Here you find practical experience and gossip from many conferences and academic institutions summarized in entertaining and easy-to-read presentations. Guys don’t want to read too much, so enjoy the engaging graphics as...
Welcome to the Leaning Tools section of BatteryUniversity.com. Here you find practical experience and gossip from many conferences and academic institutions summarized in entertaining and easy-to-read presentations. Guys don’t want to read too much, so enjoy the engaging graphics as...
The market offers a wide choice of battery testers, all providing correct predictions when the battery is dead, but so does the user. The challenge is tracking the capacity of a working battery that is in normal use but will...
Discover the different battery formats that go back to the late 1800s; from the F cell to the AAAA cell to the 26650 Larger Li-ion battery for industrial applications.
Few other products have such stringent requirementsSociety seeks liberation from the dependence of oil and gravitates towards the battery as the ideal green solution for our energy needs. While this crusade is noble and right, the battery has not yet...
Early batteries of the 1700s and 1800s were mostly encased in glass jars. As the batteries grew in size, jars shifted to sealed wooden containers and composite materials. There were few size standards, except perhaps the No. 6 Dry Cell...
A good charger provides the base for well-performing and durable batteries. In a price-competitive market chargers often receive low priority. The battery and charger must go together like horse and carriage (Figure 1), and this is not always the case...
Wireless charging may one day replace plugs and wires similar to how Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have modernized personal communication. The concept rests on inductive coupling using an electromagnetic field that transfers energy from the transmitter to the receiver.Wireless transfer of...
The Tesla battery that Elon Musk announced gets much media attention, and rightly so. The Powerwall, as the Tesla battery is called, can store energy from renewable sources from solar panels and wind turbines to supplement energy needs and reduce...
A speaker at a battery conference once said that a battery in a mobile phone should last for several months between recharges to resemble a battery in a watch. In the 1990s, the runtime of mobile phones improved with batteries...
The 4th edition of Batteries in a Portable World contains large volumes of firsthand information that is not available in the 3rd edition of the book with same title. The 4th edition would have grown beyond 360 pages had the...
Discovering Damage before Danger Arises with the Three-prong Battery TestThe media is quick to report mishaps with lithium-ion batteries. A failed Li-ion gets higher attention than an accident with an older battery chemistry. Electric hoverboards have been recalled because of...
Medical technicians have discovered that most defibrillators batteries had over 90% capacity left when the two-year expiry date called for replacement. This had led to discarding perfectly good batteries, escalating operational costs and stressing the environment. A manager of the...
Global production of Li-ion batteries was roughly 35 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2013; experts predict the demand will grow to 130GWh by 2020, a 3.7 fold increase. This presents a challenge as batteries need care in the hands of common...
How to Meet Field Integrity and AirworthinessDuring an external pre-flight inspection before takeoff, the pilot notices heavy white smoke billowing from the cargo hold of the Boeing 737 and declared “Mayday.” Emergency crews arrived and uncovered 28 batteries in a...
From basic Voltage to Electrochemical Impedance SpectroscopyFrom 2013 to 2020, experts predict a 3.7 fold increase in the demand of lithium-ion batteries. This growing dependency on batteries requires advancements in diagnostics to observe capacity loss to maintain reliability as the...
There are more mobile phones in the world than people. No other products have taken off so quickly — faster than the automobile, television, the PC and the Internet. Advancing from a clunky and expensive box in the 1990s to...
BU-302: Series and Parallel Battery Configurations (English)Aprenda cómo conectar baterías para incrementar el voltaje o lograr mayor capacidad.Las baterías logran la operación deseada mediante la conexión de varias celdas en serie; cada celda suma su potencial de voltaje para lograr...
BU-001: Sharing Battery Knowledge (English)La investigación sobre baterías está avanzando rápidamente, lo que es una clara indicación de que la “Super Batería” aún no ha sido encontrada, pero podría estar a la vuelta de la esquina. Mientras las baterías de...
Starter batteries have two end-of-life modes: Heat failure and capacity fade. Heat failure is caused by corrosion that appears early in life and manifests itself in poor cranking caused by high internal resistance. This deficiency can easily be measured with...
Discover the power of the “smart” battery when making historic performance data visibleA new frontier is opening that allows downloading historic data from a “smart” battery to estimate battery state-of-health (SoH) based on field events. While smart batteries have been...
Methods of optimizing choice of lithium-ion batteries for best performance using the Ragone plot. Choose and characterize the best lithium-ion system for long-term reliability
NFPA 704 rating is a standard developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in the USA to indicate health, flammability, reactivity and hazard of materials. First adopted in 1960, NFPA 704 represents a diamond with colored safety square and...
Air shipping requirements for Lithium-based batteries based on ATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Shipping of Lithium-based Batteries by Air; non-Class 9
Knowing the health of a battery is important, but no quick method exists to test them with certainty. State-of-health (SoH) cannot be measured per se, only estimated to various degrees of accuracies based on available symptoms. A battery behaves much...
Welcome to the Leaning Tools section of BatteryUniversity.com. Here you find practical experience and gossip from many conferences and academic institutions summarized in entertaining and easy-to-read presentations. Guys don’t want to read too much, so enjoy the engaging graphics as...
Welcome to the Leaning Tools section of BatteryUniversity.com. Here you find practical experience and gossip from many conferences and academic institutions summarized in entertaining and easy-to-read presentations. Guys don’t want to read too much, so enjoy the engaging graphics as...
Regulations made easy to UnderstandBattery shipment has come under strict transportation regulation and this is especially critical with lithium-based products. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Dangerous Goods Regulation (DGR) are trusted resources to help prepare and document dangerous...
Lead and cadmium-based batteries pose the largest environmental concerns, so much so that the nickel-cadmium battery was banned in Europe. Efforts are made to also replace the lead-based battery but no suitable replacement is available as was the case by...
The numbers of battery conferences are growing, but the agendas are similar — portraying a super battery that does not yet exist. With a grant of $120 million from the US Department of Energy, the Joint Centre for Energy Storage...
The 4th edition of Batteries in a Portable World contains large volumes of firsthand information that is not available in the 3rd edition of the book with same title. The 4th edition would have grown beyond 360 pages had the...
Removing the “black-box” stigma by making performance transparentBattery users imagine a battery pack being an energy storage device that resembles a fuel tank dispensing liquid fuel. For simplicity reasons, a battery can indeed be perceived as a vessel storing electrical...
BU-104: Getting to Know the Battery (English)Conozca la Fortaleza de la batería y aprenda a vivir con sus debilidades.La naturaleza ofrece diversas maneras de producir potencia. La mayoría resulta de la combustion, el movimiento mecánido y la fotosíntesis, como en...
BU-003: Dedication (English)La información en este libro se provee para el beneficio de todos los usuarios de baterías. Las baterías han llegado a ser nuestras compañeras permanentes de viaje. Nos ayudan a encontrar un amigo, nos permiten trabajar fuera de...
BU-002: Introduction (English) Haga equipo con la Universidad de la Batería para aprender acerca de las baterías y superar sus inconvenientesLa palabra “batería” viene del francés antiguo “baterie”, que significa la “acción de golpear”, relacionado a un grupo de cañones...
The oil industry anticipates a quick recovery in oil consumption with records exceeding 100,000 million barrels per day. This burn-rate troubles environmentalists because of global warming caused by a rise of carbon dioxide (CO2). In pre-industrial times, CO2 was below...
While every effort was made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is accurate, Cadex does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the information published herein; neither does Cadex take responsibility for any errors, omission...
Link Partnership We receive many requests to link www.BatteryUniveristy.com to various commercial websites. Please be advised that it is our policy not to add links to other commercial websites because our site is provided for educational purposes only. However, feel...
Battery testing is the product of electrochemical evidence and data analysis with artificial intelligence. A battery cannot be “measured,” only estimated by analyzing its symptoms. These symptoms change with state-of-charge (SoC), temperature, agitation, storage and age. As an example, a...
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) has identical charge characteristics to Lithium-ion but with lower terminal voltages. In many ways, LFP also resembles lead acid which enables some compatibility with 6V and 12V packs but with different cell counts. While lead acid...
A device manufacturer must over-size a battery to allow for capacity to fade. Systems work well when new but concerns arise as battery capacity decreases, a loss that often happens in an uncontrolled way. Chargers are available that offer Minimum...
New technologies often lead to “innovative blind spots,” and this is happening with electrification in batteries. Lithium-ion is a winning chemistry to store electrical energy but there is fear of failure that often starts in a faulty cell that propagates...
The saying goes: “So you can start the car, but will the battery crank the engine again tomorrow?” With rapid electrification in vehicles, concerns also arise with steering and breaking drawing draw 100 amperes from the battery. The battery is...
As the world electrifies, new demands are placed on the battery. Clean energy must have the same performance transparency as traditional power sources burning fossil fuel, but we realize that battery diagnostics is lagging behind. Without mature ways to assess...
Last Updated: 30-Jan-2024
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